Breakdown of По словам основателя, эта инициатива — сложная задача.
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
слово
word
задача
task
сложный
difficult, complex
по
according to (also: along, by)
основатель
the founder
инициатива
the initiative
Questions & Answers about По словам основателя, эта инициатива — сложная задача.
How do we construct the phrase По словам to say 'according to someone'?
The preposition по triggers the dative case for the word 'words', which is словам. To specify whose words they are, you follow it with a noun or pronoun in the genitive case, like основателя meaning 'of the founder'.
Could I use по мнению instead of по словам in this sentence?
You could, but the meaning shifts slightly. По словам literally translates to 'by the words of' and implies you are quoting something the founder actually said. По мнению means 'in the opinion of' and attributes a belief or perspective to them, whether they stated it outright or not.
Why is there an em-dash before сложная задача?
The dash acts as a linking verb, replacing the present-tense verb 'to be' (is/are). It is required in standard Russian punctuation when both the subject (инициатива) and the predicate (задача) are nouns in the nominative case.
What is the difference between using сложная and трудная for 'difficult' here?
While they are often interchangeable, сложная implies that a task is complex, intricate, or has many moving parts to figure out. Трудная implies the task requires a lot of heavy effort or hard labor. For a business initiative, сложная is a very natural fit.
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